Thursday, October 6, 2011

Unions join ranks of Occupy Wall Street protesters

From National Nurses United to the Amalgamated Transit Union to the Communications Workers of America, union brass paid homage to what the Occupy Wall Street campers began.

Fuelled by burgeoning online support, the rolling protests have spread to include smaller rallies in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Boston, Chicago and Baltimore. Thursday, a sister protest billed as Occupy DC is vowing a major rally in Washington.

The evolving and sometimes mismatched messages from Zuccotti Square have included a laundry list of complaints ranging from the influence of limitless corporate money on U.S. politics to the American addiction to fossil fuels.

But with the onset of Big Labour, Tuesday’s message crystallized around the mantra that “We are the 99 per cent” — the 99 per cent of Americans bearing the brunt of the worst recession in living memory, while the wealthiest 1 per cent grow richer still.

“They got bailed out, we got sold out,” was the populist refrain chanted throughout the day.